Women committed suicide after being stalked

TWO WOMEN who worked in the sex industry and were stalked by clients, killed themselves after meeting on a suicide website.

Riley Lison-Taylor, an escort, and Jamie Perlman, a dominatrix, used toxic chemicals to commit suicide five days after meeting online, an inquest heard last week (November 2).

The pair were discovered in a cupboard of a flat in Putney, south London, where Lison-Taylor, 33, was thought to have resided, after a concerned friend contacted police.

When authorities arrived at the scene on September 30 last year, they found that the property had been sealed with tape. Signs were also found stating ‘Do not enter, poisonous gas,’ said detective inspector Glen Lloyd.

The women were found inside the property lying side-by-side wearing headphones attached to MP3 players, and swimming goggles.

Letters left in the hallway helped police identify the women, who expressed their dissatisfaction with police handling of harassment cases.

Lison-Taylor, who had a troubled childhood after being beaten by her parents, had a life-long restraining order against a man who stalked her.

Both women suffered from depression and had reported numerous problems with sex trade clients to police.

One of the letters written by 37-year-old Perlman, who had left her husband and child to move to Surrey, read: ‘I have committed suicide, this is my third attempt.’
Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe told Westminster Coroner's Court: “There were an awful lot of difficulties that they faced in their lives and they were vulnerable people. And the stalkers were probably one of the most difficult things they faced.”

Lison-Taylor claimed that her investigating officer had ‘manipulated her and played with her vulnerability’ after falling in love with him and starting a relationship. She later complained about him.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) upheld two of her complaints, stating that text message contact between the two was ‘inappropriate,’ and that the unnamed officer should have passed on her case. However, they claimed that the separate stalking investigations were ‘thorough’ and ‘adequate.’

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson told The Voice last week that they were ‘considering’ a file of evidence received from the IPCC.

Posted on: 10/11/2011 10:29 AM

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